


Pass the Torch

by oneoneandone



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneoneandone/pseuds/oneoneandone
Summary: It's a cycle that keeps repeating.
Relationships: Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger, Kelley O'Hara/Hope Solo
Kudos: 39





	Pass the Torch

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt**   
>  _The gals with O'Solo baby_

Technically, it’s Hope’s fault. Hope and Kelley’s. 

At least, that’s what Ash tries to tell the brunette in the bed who’s gripping her hand like gravity’s pull is beyond her and the tall, blonde is the only thing keeping her on the ground. 

Unsurprisingly, Ali is not amused. 

—–

“Okay,” Hope said again, for what felt like the seventh time, “instructions on preparing the bottles are in the notebook. So’s the usual napping and feeding schedule. You have our numbers, right? Of course you do. And Kelley’s parents? The doctor? As a last resort, call the trainers, they have medical training. Or just call 9-1-1, that’d probably be the smartest thing. Call me first, then Kelley, then 9-1-1. No, 9-1-1, then me, then Kelley…”

“Hope, honey,” Kelley cut in, prying the little notebook from her wife’s tight grip, “you’re babbling. That’s my thing. You need to stop now because we’re going to be late.”

Ash looks back and forth between the two women. She’s never seen the veteran goalkeeper like this before, so unnerved. Somehow it’s even more intimidating than usual. 

“Seriously, babe,” the shorter woman continued, putting her hands on Hope’s shoulders to calm her, “everything is going to be okay. It’s just two nights, and Ali and Ash are grown women completely capable of taking care Jamie.”

“Now,” Kelley said, “come and say goodbye, okay? We’ll be back to pick him up before he even realizes we’re gone.”

And as she transferred the sleeping baby from her arms to her wife’s, Ash stepped out into the hall, letting her mentor and her teammates have a private moment with their son before leaving. 

“Okay,” Kelley said quietly as she came out into the hall, Jamie in her arms again, “I think she’s settled down enough that we can leave. If we do it now. Before she remembers something else she needs to tell you. And speaking of, I told her that you’d done an infant CPR course in the past twelve months–if she asks, just go along with it.”

And then she carefully handed over her son into the blonde’s steady arms, and helped Ash get him settled into the sling secured around her chest. 

“I’m going to get her and go–don’t come out, she’ll just get distracted again,” Kelley said before lowering her head to place a kiss on the soft, downy fuzz of her son’s head, whispering a sweet goodbye. 

—–

Ali got home a few hours later, one bottle, two dirty diapers, and an easy nap into their babysitting duties. 

When she walked into the living room, she found her girlfriend reclining back in one of their comfortable easy chairs, their godson asleep in her arms. 

Ash lifted a finger to her lips. “According the schedule, if we don’t wake him up, he should sleep for the next couple of hours.”

The defender nodded, tiptoeing over to the couch to sit and consider how perfect it felt to come home to her girl, a baby in those strong arms. 

“How crazy was Hope,” she whispered, pulling her knees to her chest.

And Ashlyn had to swallow back a laugh. “How’d you know Hope was the crazy one? I would have put money on Kelley, to be honest.”

But Ali smiled and winked. “It’s a goalkeeper thing,” she said, “all protective and in control. Always on the watch for some to come and threaten your territory. Of course she was going to be a wreck. You’ll be the same way with our kids, you know.” 

They didn’t talk much after that, lulled into a quiet, lazy afternoon with the baby, but Ali’s last words echo through her girlfriend’s head for the rest of the night, long into the dark of evening. 

_Our kids_. 

—–

“Okay, Ali, just a few more pushes,” the doctor says from where she stands next to the nervous blonde. “Ash, you ready?”

She’s not ready. She’s absolutely not ready. 

There’s so much she doesn’t know, and so many things that can go wrong. Not just today, but tomorrow and the day after and the whole rest of this baby’s life. There’s so much and she can’t protect their child from everything, not the big things, not even the little ones. 

She’s terrified because this is literally the moment when everything changes and she’s not ready she’s not ready she’s not–

“Ash,” Ali says tiredly from the head of the bed, and Ash looks up to meet her partner’s eyes. 

And she knows–everything will be okay. 

“Yeah,” she says to the doctor, “I’m ready.” 

“Okay, then, when the next contraction hits you’re going to–”

And the doctor guides her through bringing their child into the world. She’s there, standing just at Ash’s side, but it’s the blonde whose hands are there to catch the baby, to feel the wet messy frizz of hair, the delicate and soft head. It’s Ash who checks with careful fingers to make sure the cord isn’t around their child’s throat, and Ash who helps manipulate the broad shoulders out. 

It’s the two of them, really, just like it’s always been. 

Partners. 

Ali pushes and grunts and moans, and with one last final effort, their baby slips out into Ash’s steady, waiting hands; a kicking, howling dynamo that steals the blonde’s heart with that first, confident breath. 

“It’s a girl,” she says, crying herself, “we have a girl.” 

—–

“Okay, I’ve written down all our numbers. Make sure you put them into your phone and call us with any questions. Or just to let us know how things are going. And if she starts to cry and won’t stop, just call me and I’ll sing “Umbrella” to her through the phone. It works every time. And she likes the frog when she’s taking a nap, but the shark when she’s sleeping. Unless she’s not feeling well, and then she likes the monkey and the blue blanket–but if she’s not feeling well, call us and we’ll come–”

Morgan looks at her with an expression that makes it clear she thinks the older woman has lost it. 

“Alright,” Ali says, stepping into the room with the baby carrier, “she’s all fed and should be ready for a nap in the next half-an-hour. We’ll be back tomorrow before dark. If anything serious happens, you have our number.”

“Come on, babe,” she tells Ash, “our reservations are in three hours and I still have to get ready. Let’s go before Moe here rethinks her generous offer to babysit.”

“But–,” Ash starts to speak, “what if–?” 

“Say goodbye,” Ali coaxes her partner gently, not immune to the worry of leaving their daughter for the first time either, “and then let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll be back on our way to pick her up.”

Ash looks around the apartment once more, clearly torn. But she listens, and bends over the carrier to say her goodbyes. 

“Okay, Lara,” she whispers, “mama and I are going out. But we’ll be back. We love you. Be as sassy as you want to Auntie Moe.” 

And with a kiss and one last look, she sighs. 

—–

“How long do you think before Moe and her husband start talking about babies,” Ash asks in the car as they pull away from the building. 

“If Lara’s as easy-going as usual,” Ali guesses, “I’d say about twelve hours.”

“And the cycle continues,” Ash chuckles, and takes her partner’s hand in her own, “can’t mess with tradition.”


End file.
